--- title: "Elon Musk, Who Refused to Take a COVID Vaccine, Now Says Vaccines Are Good" description: "In a reversal, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has decided that vaccines are a good thing after all. Better late than never." date: "2021-04-07" modified: "2021-04-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/elon-musk-covid-vaccines-good" categories: - "Developments" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Health & Medicine" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "vaccine" - "vaccines" --- # Elon Musk, Who Refused to Take a COVID Vaccine, Now Says Vaccines Are Good ![In a reversal, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has decided that vaccines are a good thing after all. Better late than never.]() *\Image: Daniel Oberhaus via Flickr / Futurism\* In a striking reversal, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has decided that vaccines are a good thing after all. Better late than never, I guess. After [spreading misleading information]() about the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the billionaire seems to finally have considered the science. "To be clear, I do support vaccines in general and COVID vaccines specifically," [Musk tweeted]() on Wednesday afternoon. "The science is unequivocal." "In very rare cases, there is an allergic reaction, but this is easily addressed with an EpiPen," he added. The news comes after [Musk told tech journalist Kara Swisher]() in a September 2020 [*New York Times* interview]() that he won't get a vaccine, "nor are my kids." Roughly two months later, Musk [tested himself positive for the coronavirus](). Musk also [previously predicted]() that there will be "close to zero new cases" by the "end of April" of last year. The CEO also took the opportunity to clarify some previous comments he has made. In a [Twitter reply](), he claimed that he previously said he wouldn't get the vaccine because "someone else would benefit more" since he already "had some immunity to it already." It's unclear what the remark was in reference to. The comment couldn't have been in reference to the September 2020 interview with Kara Swisher since Musk tested positive after the interview. When asked "which vaccine" he believes to be "safest for COVID-19" — a question that really should go to a healthcare professional, not a billionaire CEO — Musk opined that it's "probably \[Johnson & Johnson\], "but BioNTech and Moderna are good too." To be clear, Musk is [extremely late to the game](). At least now Musk has acknowledged the irrefutable scientific fact: vaccines are safe, and everybody who can should get inoculated now. For better or for worse, millions of people look up to the entrepreneur — he irrefutably holds sway over millions of minds. After likely instilling mistrust in countless people following his ill-advised comments last year, Musk is ready to turn the page. On one hand, the damage has been done. On the other, having Musk say the obvious and encourage more people to get vaccinated could save lives, so it is good that he's finally come around. Perhaps now one of the richest men in the world is ready to put his money where his mouth is. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()